Real Estate and Land Use Litigation
• Bronfman – Real Estate Fraud Litigation. Obtained an $11 million verdict after a month-long jury trial for claims involving fraud and breach of fiduciary duty in connection with a $26 million real estate venture involving luxury homes in Southern California.
• Hines Holdings – Breach of Contract Litigation. Represented a mezzanine lender defending against claims for breach of loan guaranties and an alleged loan-to-own scheme involving a $1.5 billion real estate portfolio. (Summary judgment and favorable settlement.)
• Los Angeles Housing Project – Housing Litigation. Successfully overturned a local government denial of a housing project based on the Housing Accountability Act, where the trial court granted a writ of mandate ordering the City of Los Angeles to approve the project.
• Beverly Hills Restrictive Covenant – Litigation and Preliminary Injunction. Successfully obtained a preliminary injunction in federal court to block neighboring construction being done in violation of a restrictive covenant.
• Montecito Neighbor Dispute – Litigation/Mediation. Successful mediation of a neighbor dispute after litigation involving neighboring owners trespassing to remove trees to improve their views without consent.
• Commercial Complex – Enforcement of CC&Rs. Successfully blocked a cannabis operator from operating within a commercial complex due to violation of CC&Rs. Represented ownership of commercial complex through City administrative proceedings, trial in California Superior Court, and California Court of Appeal.
• Cardiff Real Estate Fraud – Litigation/Mediation. Reached resolution at mediation, representing Defendant sellers of property, relating to allegations of failure to disclose material facts at sale of property.
• San Luis Obispo Cannabis Operator – Litigation. Successfully defended against a local government action to revoke a cannabis license from a legally operating client, through issuance of a temporary restraining order against the City.
• City of Rancho Cordova – Eviction Action. Represented City in successful eviction of a bar operator tenant who refused to vacate City land after lease termination.
• Beverly Hills Landlord – Mediation. Represented Beverly Hills Landlord in successful mediation where no money was paid out to Tenant alleging problems with property.
CEQA and Environmental
• The Parking Spot – CEQA Litigation. Represented a prominent national airport parking operator in a CEQA dispute with Los Angeles World Airports in connection with LAX’s Landside Access Modernization Program, resulting in a favorable settlement.
• City of Salinas – CEQA Litigation. Successfully represented the City in a challenge to the City’s approval of an Amazon Warehouse facility, obtaining dismissal of the action.
• City of Vacaville – CEQA Litigation. Successfully represented the real party in interest developer relating to a CEQA challenge to the City’s approval of a housing development, obtaining dismissal of the action.
• Los Angeles Department of Water and Power – Owens Valley Air Quality Penalties. Represented LADWP in litigation relating to over $100 million in penalties under the Health and Safety Code, associated with air emissions in the Owens Valley.
• Codelco – Mining Transactional. Represented a servient tenement property owner in the negotiation of an easement with Codelco, the largest mining company in Chile.
Government & Public Policy
• California Cities/Counties – Cannabis Industry Litigation. Represented cities and counties throughout California in cannabis regulation efforts, obtaining preliminary injunctions, temporary restraining orders, and permanent injunctions against cannabis operators for various zoning and public nuisance-related violations.
• Cannabis Industry Clients – Regulatory and Permitting. Assist cannabis-industry clients throughout California to navigate state and local regulations, including several of the largest companies in the U.S. and one of the first cannabis lounges in all of California.
• California Cities/Counties — Cannabis Regulations. Represented cities and counties throughout California in drafting and implementing cannabis-related regulations.
• California Cities/Counties – Public Records Act. Represented public entities in responding to Public Records Act requests and defending against litigation challenging the adequacy of document productions.
• Private Developers – Public Records Act. Represented private clients in pursuing government documents through the Public Records Act, including all stages of litigation relating to disclosure disputes.
Land Entitlements & Permitting
• Bellflower Hospital – Conditional Use Permit. Handled several modifications of conditional use permits, for various hospital uses and conditions of approval.
• Malibu Motels/Hotels – Project Approvals: Represented developers in Malibu in connection with planning and land use approvals for motels and hotels before the City of Malibu and the California Coastal Commission.
• Grandview House Preschool – Entitlement Acquisition. Represented two preschools in the acquisition and entitlement of sites in Glendale and Pasadena, including complex parking, easement, and covenant issues.
• Poseidon – CA Coastal Commission approvals. Represented the largest desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere in obtaining entitlements before the California Coastal Commission.
• Chile Baha’i Temple – Construction. Handled environmental work, permitting, real property litigation, and entitlements for an iconic, award-winning development project at the foothills of the Andes Mountains in Santiago, Chile.
• Malibu Residential Home Owners – Entitlements. Handled entitlement work for several City of Malibu property owners looking to develop their properties, or make modifications to their homes, including fire rebuilds.
Real Estate
• Culver City Hospital – Real Property Transactions. Represented the hospital in the negotiation of purchase and sale agreements, covenants, and easements in connection with real property transactions.
• Cannabis Industry – Landlord Contracts. Have Represented landlords in lease negotiations with cannabis-industry tenants, to ensure appropriate protections and safeguards.
Land Use
• Nobu Malibu – Land Use & Code Enforcement. Represented the restaurant in connection with land use and code enforcement matters with the City of Malibu.
• Culver City Hospital – Neighboring Use Abatement. Represented a hospital in negotiating project modifications and mitigation measures relating to construction, noise, and vibrations for hospital-adjacent projects with potential impacts on operations.
• City of San Clemente – Recovery Homes. Represented the Orange County City in disputes involving the regulation of group homes and drug and alcohol recovery facilities.
• International Real Estate Owner – Challenge of Mello-Roos Tax. Successfully challenged and invalidated the City of South San Francisco’s imposition of a Mello-Roos special tax through a reverse validation civil action, saving clients hundreds of millions of dollars in special taxes.
• Recycling Centers – Entitlements and Code Enforcement. Represent several recycling centers throughout various cities in California in their entitlements and responses to code enforcement.
